52 New Things -- Week 3 -- Basketball for All

Fun, fun, fun!

That's the best way to describe Tuesday night, I think.  And even better, I get to spend the next two months doing the same thing every Tuesday night.

Now that we're settled here in Minnesota, I've been looking for a volunteer opportunity.  Since leaving Colorado, I haven't really done much of anything to help anyone, and I find that my life feels shallow when I'm focused solely on myself.

I saw that the YMCA was looking for "buddies" for their "Basketball for All" program, so I signed us both up. (Kevin may not know it, but he needs to volunteer, too!) Neither of us have a lot of experience working with kids with special needs, but we were both camp counselors back in the day, so I figured we wouldn't be completely awful.

I distinctly remember Special Ed. Week at Lutheran Lakeside Camp. I was all of nineteen and had zero past experience with the population about to arrive. The brief training we got terrified me, as did the fact that two other counselors moved into my cabin in preparation for the six women campers who'd be staying there for the week. A 3:6 ratio? Obviously this was going to be a long, hard week, caring for these difficult, demanding people.

Yes, it was a hard week.  But it was also amazing.

I don't think anyone was as excited to go to camp as those adults with special needs. They had the times of their lives in those six short days. Yes, there were moments that tried my patience and/or grossed me out, but the same could be said for any other week with any other campers.  And that whole "faith like a child" thing the Bible talks about (and most of us struggle with)? This gang had it covered.

The best part of the week, though, was the final night when we had a dance. We had a dance every week -- your typical teenage dance, with some kids confidently showing off their moves but most either too embarrassed to dance or deludedly too cool to do anything but stand on the sidelines and roll their eyes. Our Special Ed. campers? I've never seen anything like it. I'm not sure I ever will again, this side of heaven. They danced their hearts out.  It was like American Bandstand, Flashdance, Soul Train, and Grease all rolled into one. No one gave a rip about what anyone thought of them. It was beautiful.

AND I got a free t-shirt!  What a deal!

That dance -- that exhibition of freedom to fully be who they were -- jumped into my mind Tuesday night as I saw kids dribbling and shooting and showing off for their new buddies. They were superstars. No one was going to make fun of them. No one was going to say they weren't good enough for the team. It was all high fives and fist bumps and showers of praise. For one hour, they had nothing to worry about.  Happiness reigned.

And you know what? For two people who can easily get caught up worrying about our own problems, an hour of all smiles and no worries was pretty great for us, too. That's usually the case -- I go into situations planning to help people, but I unexpectedly end up happier and more thankful and wondering who's helping who.

I can't wait to go back.  :)